Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to disband the Palestinian Authority (PA) and return responsibility for the occupied West Bank to the Israeli government if diplomatic stagnation continues and settlement construction doesn't stop. In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz, Abbas said: “If there is no progress even after the election I will take the phone and call (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. I'll tell him, ‘My dear friend, Mr. Netanyahu, I am inviting you to the Muqata'a, the presidential headquarters in Ramallah. Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the PA'.” “Once the new government in Israel is in place, Netanyahu will have to decide – yes or no,” said Abbas. He said that based on the opinion polls he's seen in the Israeli media, he is assuming that Netanyahu will be forming the next government. He said he would be willing to renew talks with Netanyahu immediately after the election, but would demand that Israel freeze construction in the Palestinian territories for the duration of the talks, renew the transfer of tax proceeds that Israel collects on the PA's behalf, and release some 120 Palestinian prisoners who have been imprisoned in Israel since the 1993 Oslo Accords. “These are not preconditions; these are commitments Israel has already taken upon itself,” said Abbas, hinting that he needed some kind of gesture from Israel. “If Netanyahu will do these things, it would help (restart talks). I only ask him not to build (settlements) during the negotiations.” The Palestinian president stressed that despite Israeli fears, he does not plan to exploit Palestine's new status as a UN nonmember state to bring charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “I won't do anything as long as there are diplomatic negotiations,” he said. “But if the stalemate continues, if there's no movement in the peace process, settlements continue and Israel won't release our money so that we can pay salaries, what's left for us to do?” The Palestinian president said that he ordered Palestinian security forces to prevent violent acts against Israel following the UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood. “We will not permit a third armed Intifada,” he said. The interview with Abbas took place after he held a meeting in the Muqata'a with Zahava Gal-On, chairwoman of the leftist Israeli party Meretz, who delivered to the Palestinian president a peace initiative that aims to bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Abbas then submitted the proposed initiative to a committee for further study, Palestinian official Wafa news agency reported.
